realme C21 - review

Device class A ("Mercedes" scale A, B, C, E, S)

Rating scale 1-6 (6-targeting)

We begin

Today, in addition to realme 8 5G, which is one of the cheapest 5G-supporting smartphones on the market, the even cheaper realme C21 model is also premiered, which is available in the 3/32 GB version for PLN 499 and 4/64 GB for PLN 599, respectively. At the outset, it is worth noting that only the more expensive version is equipped with NFC. Besides, the realme C21 can be used surprisingly comfortably, taking into account how it is positioned with its price. It could not do without a few compromises, but I think that for people looking for a cheap phone they will be acceptable. So let's move on to the details.

The main advantages and disadvantages of realme C21

Advantages of realme C21:

Disadvantages of realme C21:

How do we rate design? - rating 4-

The housing of realme C21 is made entirely of plastic, which should come as no surprise to anyone. On the plus side, realme should be counted that the material has a matte texture with a visually attractive pattern. Thanks to this, there are no scratches or traces of touch on the back of the phone - you do not need to wipe the phone every now and then to look good and it looks as good as in the attached photos in almost every situation. The dimensions of the phone are 165.2 x 76.4 x 8.9 mm with 190 grams of weight.

The screen unlocking is a positive surprise - the realme C21 can be unlocked with both your face and fingerprint using a reader located on the back of the case. Both methods are quick and hassle-free, which is not so obvious not only among cheap smartphones, because there were mishaps with expensive devices as well. In the C21, unlocking the screen works perfectly.

The design advantages also include a tray with three slots - for two nano SIM cards and a third, separate slot for a memory card with a capacity of up to 256 GB. There is also a headphone jack.

Unfortunately, on the lower edge, a micro USB socket was used instead of USB C. In my opinion, this is a definite minus. The second downside is the speakerphone. Although it is loud and the speaker on the back of the housing is rather difficult to cover with your hand, the sound is quite flat, and at higher volume levels it is clearly distorted and crackling. It will suffice for chatting, but listening to anything like this for your enjoyment is not an option.

The manufacturer boasts that his smartphone undergoes rigorous durability tests at the TÜV Rheinland institute, which simulate the three-year life of the smartphone. The reviewed realme C21 has received such a TÜV certificate.

What do we think about the display? - rating 4

The realme C21 screen has a diagonal of 6.5 inches and a resolution of HD + 1600 x 720 pixels. This results in a pixel density of 270 PPI. The screen aspect ratio is 20: 9, and the housing is filled with a screen over 80%. The display is covered with glass, which, however, apparently lacks advanced oleophobic coatings, because it can be quite dull to the touch. The display bezels are also noticeable, especially the bottom one, which is the widest. However, this has little impact on practical aspects, apart from aesthetics and a less modern look.

When it comes to image quality, I have little to complain about. The resolution lower than Full HD does not interfere in practice, because the image is detailed, sharp and legible. The colors are saturated and pleasing to the eye - nor do they change when you look at the screen from an angle. However, the brightness of the panel clearly drops when we look at it at an angle and this is basically the only downside of this screen. The brightness is not stunning, but 400 nits is enough to keep the screen readable.

The settings include a dark mode, eye comfort reducing the amount of blue light, as well as adjusting the color temperature of the screen.

Specification and operating system - rated 3+

realme C21 is equipped with an octa-core MediaTek Helio G35 processor clocked at 4 x 2.3 GHz + 4 x 1.8 GHz. The processor supports, depending on the version, 3/32 GB or 4/64 GB of memory. The Polish version of realme C21 with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of space for the system and files is equipped with NFC, which is not available in the cheaper model. At this point, I must point out that before the premiere I had the opportunity to test only the Thai version of realme C21, which does not have NFC in any version.

The benchmark results are as follows:

You can immediately see that we are dealing with a budget phone with a low performance. Top devices offer an Antutu score five times higher. However, a compromise on performance due to the low price was to be expected. The main question is whether it has a significant impact on the comfort of using the phone. It turns out realme C21 is surprisingly responsive to everyday tasks. You may notice a slower application loading time, but not enough to cause annoyance. The C21 is not a phone for the discerning gamer, but it handles messaging, browsing and many other mundane tasks well enough.

The connectivity package includes: LTE, WiFi n, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC in 4/64 GB version. Location is accomplished using GPS, GLONASS and BDS. The sensor package includes an accelerometer, proximity sensor, light intensity sensor, proximity sensor. The manufacturer does not replace the gyroscope. In 360 movies it seems to be simulated fairly well on the basis of an accelerometer, but not all types of motion are transferred with the same precision. Therefore, if we choose the more expensive version with NFC, the biggest compromises will be quite free WiFi n and the lack of a gyroscope.

The C21 runs on Android 10 - it's not the newest version of this system - realme 8 5G runs on Android 11. This is one of the price cuts. Fortunately, the security updates are fairly up-to-date and are dated January 5, 2021. The system overlay version is ColorOS 7. In the system overlay some differences from the higher models are also visible.

The system can be configured to call the Google assistant by pressing the power button. It is also possible to choose the order of the system buttons on the lower bar and the ability to switch to gestures performed from the edge.

Other amenities include the ability to record the screen and the three-finger swipe gesture to take a screenshot - including a long screenshot with content scrolling.

During the tests, I did not encounter any problems with the stability of the system.

What kind of photos does he take and what films does he record? - rating 4-

In its materials, realme boasts that the C21 has a triple AI camera. The list of available cameras is as follows:

After the specification, you can see that these two additional cameras have a resolution of 2 megapixels and are forcefully added to make the specification look nice. However, in this regard, neither the C21 nor the realme are any exception and this is common practice. It is much more important how the cameras that have real applications fall out.

And I have to admit that the realme C21 surprised me positively. The photos are more detailed and in purer colors than I expected for this price shelf. There is really little to fault with daytime photos. Even night shots, as long as there are enough neon lights in the frame, fall out quite fine and only start to break rapidly when it's really dark in the frame. In short, the realme C21 can take good photos and the low price did not stand in the way.

It is worse with video recording. The maximum resolution is Full HD 1080p, but unfortunately completely devoid of any stabilization. Even the shots when we stand still and as steadily as possible are clearly shaky. The quality of the recording itself also leaves something to be desired. The realme C21 is therefore much better suited for photos than for movies.

In the camera application you will find the following modes: photo, video, ultra night, portrait, time-lapse movie, ultra macro, Google Lens, slow motion, expert and panorama.

Sample pictures:

Sample video:

How long does the battery last? - grade 6

realme C21 boasts a 5000mAh battery - a lot in any type of smartphone, but especially a lot in one that has a slower and more energy-efficient processor and a lower screen resolution that requires less processing power. The manufacturer boasts that the realme C21 supports reverse charging via the OTG cable and can charge other devices.

After 8 hours and 42 minutes of YouTube streaming with screen brightness set to half, 67% of the battery remained. In practice, this should mean as much as 26 hours of video playback. That's more than what the manufacturer says about 21 hours is suggesting. The producer also talks about over 44 hours of voice calls, 94 hours of Spotify, or almost 18 hours of browsing Instagram.

In short, 2-3 days of intensive use on a single charge is no problem for the realme C21. Unfortunately, I was not able to check how long the phone will be charged, because the Thai version that I tested has a different charger in the set than the version for the European market.

Our final assessment

What I am always afraid of when I start testing a budget phone is, above all, an excess of compromises that will ultimately kill the pleasure of using a smartphone. realme C21, on the other hand, positively surprised me. Yes, the phone's performance is not high, it has an outdated micro USB socket, and the video is not stabilized, but still the most important issues are good enough to rise to the occasion. The screen is easy to read and attractive, fingerprint and face unlocking are fast and error-free, performance is enough to make it easy, the photos are surprisingly good, and everything has a phenomenal battery life. For a user who does not want to play demanding mobile games and does not care too much about video recording, the realme C21 may prove to be a very good choice at an attractive price. When choosing a cheap phone it is always important to know its limitations and accept them consciously before buying. Then we will avoid unnecessary disappointment. Fortunately, the realme C21 is at a good enough level on the essentials.

We love: Runtime on a single charge

We don't like: the outdated micro USB

Who is realme C21 for:

Who is realme C21 not for:

Alternatives to realme C21: